Family Tree
by jscott1998
Summary: On the night that Lily and James Potter were murdered by Voldemort, Sirius wouldn't take no for an answer.


"You have to be kidding me," Remus Lupin sighed as he read the short letter from his lifelong friend, Sirius Black.

"Dear Remus,

First, I apologize. Second: I kidnapped Harry. HELP! Don't tell the Order. -Padfoot"

Not soon after he put the letter down on the table, there was a knock at his door. Grumbling, Remus made his way through the cramped flat and to the door. By now, the knocker was frantic, and Remus could guess exactly who it was. "Moony!" Sirius may have been whispering, but Remus could hear the relief in his voice. Remus sighed once again. He could tell that he would be doing that many more times this evening.

"Padfoot, I'm not going to pretend I know what possessed you to steal Lily and James's child, but I'm sure when they owl me ba-" "They're dead, Remus. Peter sold them out to Voldemort." Remus stared at the solemn-faced man in front of him. He knew that Sirius and James had been some of the greatest pranksters Hogwarts had ever seen, but neither of them would dare pull anything like this. It was too real, and Remus didn't quite know what to think about it. His trembling legs brought him to the kitchen, where he settled into one of the stiff chairs. Despite the shock of finding out that two of his best friends were dead, and another of them was a traitor, all that went through his head was 'Merlin, I should have gotten cushions for these.'

"You can't be serious… P-Peter would never..." Remus's voice failed him for a moment. For once, the Animagus didn't make the usual pun with his name. Even the extreme jokester understood the absolute reality of the situation as he shook his head and settled into the chair across from Remus. The bundle of fabric in his arms was gently shifted onto the worn table once the two men had taken the weight off of their sore feet.

"As much as I wish this was a false alarm… The traitorous bastard told Voldemort where Lily and James were. Look," Sirius nodded towards the fabric lump. Peeking out from the top of the fleece pile was a mop of hair that Remus knew far too well. Pushing past the lump in his throat, his gaze moved down the face of the infant. His small, almond-shaped eyes were closed, but Remus knew that when they were open, they would be a green strong enough to give shards of old sea glass a run for their money. There was no doubt in his mind that this little thing, this precious, perfect mix of two of Remus's closest friends, was none other than Harry James Potter.

"What… What happened to his head?" Two pairs of eyes scanned the face of the sleeping infant, resting on the jagged scar that covered most of his forehead. "Hagrid said that it was because of the spell. Or, at least, I think that's what he said..." Here, Sirius looked down and let his voice trickle off into a mumble that Remus was just barely able to hear. His focus came back sharply and he stared at Sirius. "What do you mean, you stunned Hagrid?!"

"He was going to take Harry to Lily's sister's! The one who hate magic with a _passion_! I couldn't stand back and let that happen to this poor, sweet child. Her and her awful muggle husband would try to crush the spirit out of him! For all we know, she might lock him in some closet until Hogwarts sent him his letter, and they might ignore it until Dumbledore sends endless letters! Then, the muggles would probably run from the wizarding world and end up on a rock in the middle of a sea or something. And then Hagrid would-" His monologue was cut short a Harry stirred in his blanket bundle on the table. While the Animagus had been ranting about a scenario that seemed ridiculous, he had managed to circle the room twice, somehow shout without raising his voice above a whisper, and set the table around Harry. Remus sighed for what seemed like the thousandth time that evening.

Raising his eyes to one of his oldest friends, Remus gave him a hard look. "Fine, you two can stay here. But if you get in trouble for harboring a stolen child, do not drag me into it. Bring Harry to the living room and we'll see to… I don't know… Transfiguring him a crib or something." Remus severely doubted that Sirius had thought to get any of Harry's necessities, and from the bashful smile he gave the werewolf, Remus had guessed correctly. Lifting the small bundle of cotton and savior, the three boys left the kitchen.

The odd trio made their way through the small hallway, attempting to maneuver past the bits and pieces that made Remus's house look lived in. Sirius tripped over a pair of worn shoes and let out a string of muttered curses that would make a sailor blush, although Remus hardly blinked. A hushed "Watch your language!" was the only reply. Once they had made their way through the maze that was a half moved-in house, the three wizards relaxed. Sirius looked around, trying to find something suitable to be turned into a temporary bed for the infant, before temporarily depositing said infant into Remus's plush, threadbare armchair. "Stay there," Sirius begged in a whisper. "Please, don't fall off. Moony would never let me hear the end of it if I accidentally the savior of the wizarding world." Across the room, Remus snorted quietly before picking up an old shelf he had only because he was too polite to say no to a sweet Muggle girl who made it in her high school wood shop class. He shuddered, remembering how her rather intimidating father had come up to him in the hallway of the apartment complex and asked what Remus thought he was doing, making advances on his daughter?! He had moved out of that house in record time.

As Remus tossed the shelf in Sirius's direction, there was a knock on his front door. Leaving Sirius to Transfigure the shelf into something suitable for a baby to sleep in, he weaved his way through half-empty boxes to the front door. Once he managed to push a tub of dishware out of the path of the door, (he knew that box labeled 'Living Room' was oddly heavy) he found himself face-to-face with none other than Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Order of Merlin First Class, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Supreme Mugwump on the International Confederation of Wizards, and Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot.

"Professor Dumbledore!" Remus exclaimed, hoping his shout of false surprise was loud enough for Sirius to hear. "What are you doing here?"

For once, the old headmaster's eyes weren't twinkling like broken glass. "Good evening, Remus," he began, sounding as though he had been awake for several days. Remus had no doubt that he had. "I'm terribly sorry to bother you on such a fine evening, but would you happen to know where your old friend Sirius Black might be?" Figuring that the best route would be to feign ignorance, Remus immediately broke eye contact with the headmaster. He pretended to be thinking about when he had last seen Sirius, and trying not to think at all about how the man was in his living room with a kidnapped child. "No, sir, I don't think I do. Have you tried his house?" The headmaster look every bit his one hundred and forty years this evening as he sighed, obviously at his wit's end. "Remus, my boy, I think we should sit down for this."

Remus led the man through his house, swerving through the hallway once again, and making sure the professor's attention was strictly forward and towards the kitchen, lest Harry decide that now would be the perfect time to wake up. Once they were in the kitchen, Remus led his prior mentor to one of the stiff old chairs before bustling around, making a quick cup of tea for Dumbledore. Setting the steaming cup in front of his old headmaster, the graying man looked at the younger in what could almost be grief.

"I'm sure you've heard by now, Remus, but Lily and James… Voldemort found them. Sirius was working for Him the entire time, and he gave away the location of the Potters. Only Sirius could have known where they were." Here, the old man seemed to age slightly once again. Remus wondered if this was something he did on purpose, like that eye trick. "When I left the residence, their son, Harry, was still there. I, unfortunately, had other business to attend to, and sent Hagrid to collect the boy. He was to bring the Boy-Who-Lived to his aunt's house, where Lily's sister lives. However, when Hagrid never arrived, I went back to Godric's Hollow and found him Stunned outside the wreckage of the Potter residence. The only person who could have taken him, as sorry as I am to say, would be Sirius..." Once again, Dumbledore looked directly at Remus. Remus, knowing how powerful Legilimens the leader of the Light was, chose that moment to look at his mug in what he hoped passed off as confused and betrayed.

"Sirius… I-I would have never thought…" Remus let his voice trail off, not trusting himself not to tell the man who had once been his professor what he was doing, and what Sirius had done. The old man sighed and patted the werewolf on the shoulder in a fatherly way. "None of us did, Remus. If James had known that his best friend would betray him like he did, I doubt he would have agreed to let him hold the position of Secret Keeper. But the past is in the past, and all we can do now is continue the search for Harry Potter." The headmaster stood and said his farewells before somehow moving smoothly through the crowded hall. This made Remus suspect that the man had only walked behind him as a formality. Letting out a breath of relief as the door closed with a click, he left the half-drunk mugs of tea on the table and moved to the living room as fast as he could manage.

Upon entry, the werewolf could not decide whether to laugh or scream. In his only armchair sat the baby Harry, who was wide awake and amused to have Sirius charming a mustache and goatee combo onto his face. Remus cleared his throat, and Sirius started, looking for all intents and purposes like a child who had been caught with their hand in the cookie jar. The man stumbled to his feet before muttering the counter curse in embarrassment. For what surely wasn't the last time that day, Remus sighed. He had a rough couple of years ahead of him.


End file.
